2008 Woodie Awards
IUPUI center accelerates fuel research
Patrick Burgess
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: College News
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When it comes to the search for alternative fuels, IUPUI is on the forefront with the Richard J. Lugar Center for Renewable Energy, a program that researches and experiments with all forms of energy, from solar power to hydrogen cells.
The program is directed by Andrew Hsu, associate dean for research and graduate programs in the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI. Hsu said the center, created through a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Army, is exploring ways to adapt ethanol for military use from fuel cells that can replace vehicle engines; to where they can run effectively on ethanol instead of traditional diesel fuel; to an ethanol cell suitable for use in a hydrogen fuel cell. The intent of the grant was to see if biodiesel could replace the fuel needed for ground forces.
environment compared to the usage of traditional fossil fuels; but there are other costs, such as the time and energy used to make them practical. These expenses can eventually cost consumers.
E-85 ethanol, for example, is a biodiesel fuel that is 85 percent ethanol. It's made from corn and soybeans, much of which is being grown in Indiana for domestic use. The problem remains with how fuel can be extracted per acre. Corn can produce 18 gallons of biofuel per acre. Soybeans create 48 gallons per acre, according to studies made by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
The greater problem lies in the amount of fuel used per acre. The fuel cost per acre of possible biofuel is roughly eight and three-fourths gallons, according to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The benefits of biodiesel must be weighed against the loss of crops usable for food. A 2001 study by the Federal Reserve Bank shows that if traditional food crops were to be used for biodiesel, most nations lack the needed growing fields to sustain their energy needs.
Third World counties may benefit from biofuels by growing crops that produce more oil. The risk lies in which oil these new crops would produce, since most high oil yield crops, such as algae, have only begun biofuel experimentation and the effects on current engines that run on E-85 are unknown, according studies by the IUPUI center.
The program is directed by Andrew Hsu, associate dean for research and graduate programs in the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI. Hsu said the center, created through a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Army, is exploring ways to adapt ethanol for military use from fuel cells that can replace vehicle engines; to where they can run effectively on ethanol instead of traditional diesel fuel; to an ethanol cell suitable for use in a hydrogen fuel cell. The intent of the grant was to see if biodiesel could replace the fuel needed for ground forces.
environment compared to the usage of traditional fossil fuels; but there are other costs, such as the time and energy used to make them practical. These expenses can eventually cost consumers.
E-85 ethanol, for example, is a biodiesel fuel that is 85 percent ethanol. It's made from corn and soybeans, much of which is being grown in Indiana for domestic use. The problem remains with how fuel can be extracted per acre. Corn can produce 18 gallons of biofuel per acre. Soybeans create 48 gallons per acre, according to studies made by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Washington, D.C.
The greater problem lies in the amount of fuel used per acre. The fuel cost per acre of possible biofuel is roughly eight and three-fourths gallons, according to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The benefits of biodiesel must be weighed against the loss of crops usable for food. A 2001 study by the Federal Reserve Bank shows that if traditional food crops were to be used for biodiesel, most nations lack the needed growing fields to sustain their energy needs.
Third World counties may benefit from biofuels by growing crops that produce more oil. The risk lies in which oil these new crops would produce, since most high oil yield crops, such as algae, have only begun biofuel experimentation and the effects on current engines that run on E-85 are unknown, according studies by the IUPUI center.
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